The invention disclosed herein relates to the construction of an electrical control module and a procedure for mounting the module in a mobile storage unit.
Movable storage systems comprise a series of storage units which have shelves or bins, for example, and are movable on tracks to create an access aisle between two of the units and to establish the others in close side-by-side relationship to minimize the amount of floor space required for the units. Usually several mobile storage units are arranged to be movable between stationary storage units. Typically, the mobile units are supported on carriages which have wheels. There is a reversible electric motor mounted on each mobile carriage. The motor is mechanically coupled to the axle for a pair of the wheels for driving the storage units bidirectionally on the tracks. Typically, there are push buttons mounted on the upright end walls of each mobile storage unit. When a person desires to open an aisle between a particular pair of storage units, the person will press a push button which is mounted on an end wall of the storage unit adjacent the aisle which is to be opened. An electrical control module responds to a signal produced by the push button by energizing the motors which will drive the carriages of the storage units in the proper directions for opening of an aisle.
Customarily, the electric control modules were mounted in the mobile storage units in a place which made them difficult to access for inspection, maintenance or replacement. These conditions not only increased the amount of time required for performing maintenance operations due to disassembly of parts of the unit but also created uncomfortable working conditions for the maintenance technician.